Ashes: Outpost 3326
by Venom-117
Summary: How can so much change in seven years? And what is the real purpose of Outpost 33-26? Azu Horror/War fic set in an alternate future.
1. The Girl in the Bar

**Well, Decided to re-write 'Ashes' as a horror fic. Hope it pans out alright. Please note: Original Ashes fic is now deleted as I'm taking it in this direction. **

**First few parts are the same as the old fic, but I've changed little bits and added more descriptions.**

**Standard disclaimer rules apply unless other wise stated. **

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**Prologue - **_The girl in the bar_

The bar had been there for at least 25 years, over time, the outside of it had changed along with the surroundings, but the interior hadn't. It was still the same, A lot of dark, stained wood, tables of various size and shape scattered along the interior, the same finish and look as the bar that ran the length of the room. A large mirror dominated the wall behind it, complete with bottles of sprits on shelves in front of it.

It was as if stepping into it was stepping into another dimension.

A girl with long black hair sat at the bar, twirling an empty shot glass on the wood as the bar-tender poured another shot for her.

"Thanks…" she said, picking it up,

"Hey, no worries." said the barman, walking up to the other end to serve other customers, a welcoming smile on his face at all times.

As the woman stared at the dark brown spirit, the door of the bar opened, and a few people turned to look.

"Hey! I'll just be five minutes!" called a woman with short brown hair while walking in and closing the door behind her.

"Jeez, some people are so impatient…" she muttered.

The woman's eyes scanned the room and came to rest who she'd been looking for, the long haired woman. The shorter haired woman smirked and walked straight over. She took her coat off and pointed at the raven haired woman sitting at the bar, then held up two fingers. The bartender nodded and poured to shots of whiskey.

"You're a hard person to find…" said the shorted haired girl, leaning with her back against the bar, next to the other woman.

"Not hard enough." came the reply as the long haired woman turned to look at the other, her cobalt blue eyes locking with the brown eyes of the other woman. The room held a pregnant pause, as if the pair where about to begin a fight over something only they knew about.

Finally, the longer haired woman sighed, turning back and finishing off her drink.

"Kagura."

"Sakaki." sighed Kagura warily, picking up the glass of whiskey. The pair didn't speak for a moment. Most of the people in the bar went back to their own business, but there was an occasional glance at the two young women.

"Come to make sure I don't miss the plane?" Sakaki finally said.

Kagura pushed herself off the bar and turned around, sitting on the stool next to Sakaki.

"Something like that…" she said, "Really, I just wanted a drink before we go."

Sakaki nodded. "I never thought I'd come to this…" she said, looking up at her reflection,

"How can so much change in seven years?" she asked.

Kagura looked at the bottles arranged behind the bar, then back to the glass clasped in Sakaki's hands, "Like how your drinking a lot?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean…" said Sakaki. Kagura sighed and looked down at the wood-grain.

"I don't know." she said, then surprisingly, Kagura laughed.

"Y'know, You haven't changed Sakaki. Your still beautiful, You still look perfect. Sakaki blushed slightly and turned away. "

Tell me something. Why?" asked Kagura, Sakaki looked up at her.

"_Why_ did you want to do this?" Kagura sat waiting for an answer, that took at least a minute.

"Because…" Sakaki said finally, beginning to lift the glass to her mouth, until Kagura firmly held her wrist against the bar.

"Your not drowning this one Sakaki. Why." said Kagura firmly. Sakaki glanced up at her, then back to the shot.

"Mostly because of what happened to Tomo, and everything else that happened." said Sakaki. Kagura smiled and let go of Sakaki's wrist.

"'Hell hath no fury' eh?" chuckled Kagura. She turned to look around the bar.

"Nice place, Can you believe this no smoking thing? Jeez.." said Kagura, pouring another shot.

"Why did you want to do this?" asked Sakaki quietly, almost inaudible over the slow song playing from the jukebox in the corner.

"Bhats dhat?" asked Kagura, with a mouthful of the snacks from the bar.

"I said, Why did _you _want to do this?"

Kagura swallowed what she had been eating and picked up the shot glass again.

"So you wouldn't get all the fun to yourself," she said, "We're still rivals, no matter what the world is doing." she said punching Sakaki lightly in the arm.

"What's the real reason, Kagura?" said Sakaki, twirling the glass again. Kagura was lifting the glass to her lips when Sakaki asked, and it stopped halfway. Kagura stared distantly at her reflection. Then she frowned slightly.

"I…I don't have one…" she said, and knocked back the shot.

Sakaki nodded and stared at her drink. They sat in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say to each other.

"Do you still see him?" asked Kagura. Sakaki jumped at the sound of her voice and looked over at Kagura, who was staring at the bar.

"See who?" asked Sakaki. Kagura blinked slowly, her eyes half open.

"The first one…" she said. Sakaki arched her eyebrows and began to lift a hand to Kagura's shoulder.

"Because I do. I see him every time I look in a mirror, every time I close my eyes and every night when I dream. Every time, he's still got that smile he gave me, even though I killed him, he's _still_ smiling at me." said Kagura, as she knocked back another shot.

"I can see why you do this now." she said as the glass hit the bar with a dull clink. Sakaki sighed and her hand dropped, never even reaching Kagura.

Sakaki stared at her drink, then lifted it.

"It's a very, very…" she sang softly, in time with the song playing on the jukebox.

"…Mad World." sang Kagura, finishing the lyric.

"What's going to happen to us Kagura?" sighed Sakaki, looking into the mirror. Kagura smiled.

"Well…First, I'm going to finish this," she said then downed her drink.

"Then, Your going to finish yours, and the both of us are getting on that truck and going to do our job." she said winking.

"And then?" asked Sakaki.

"Then we can come back here and drink again." she said, slightly more seriously this time. Sakaki smiled and finished off her drink, "What about after that?"

"We'll drink some more" said Kagura.

"Then?" asked Sakaki, frowning slightly at Kagura's tone.

"Then we'll drink again, and again. until we forget about what we've done. Then we'll go to sleep, and when we wake up we'll get on with life." said Kagura, seriously. Sakaki nodded,

"I'll drink to that…" she said dryly without realising it. Kagura's mouth twitched into a smile, then she almost fell over from laughing so hard.

"Oh man, Sakaki. That was a good one!" she said, dropping some money on the bar.

"This was on me" she said, winking.

Sakaki smiled and picked up her jacket and olive drab back pack.

As they turned, the door to the bar opened again.

"Sergeant Kawada, Have you found her ye…Oh, Sorry Captain Sakura, I didn't see you." said the lieutenant, saluting. Sakaki lazily returned the salute and slung her pack over her shoulder.

"Get back to your unit lieutenant, Echo-174 is moving out." said Sakaki.

"Yes Ma'am." said the lieutenant, turning and walking out of the door. Kagura smirked.

"Captain Sakura…" she said, shaking her head.

"What?" asked Sakaki.

"Nothing, Just you giving orders. Never quite got used to it." said Kagura.

As they walked towards the door, an group of elderly men raised there glasses towards the two soldiers. The girls nodded respectfully back.

Sakaki followed Kagura out of the bar, into the snow and to the truck that was waiting outside.

"Told you I'd find her!" shouted Kagura, jumping into the truck.

Sakaki paused for a moment to look at the organised chaos around her.

An American tank growled past a column of marching German soldiers, heading to wherever it was needed. The smell of diesel fuel filled the air and the noise of machines and men mixed together into some awful sounding symphony. The noises where drowned out for a second as two Loyalist Russian jets streaked over head.

Over the street, a few British Paratroopers jumped out of the back of a truck across the road, and headed for one of the abandoned buildings. While most of the towns-people had stayed behind, others had left to find safer places to live.

Another truck pulled into the town, and American marines jumped out of it, whooping and giving high-fives at the completion of a mission. The Marines scared Sakaki, almost as much as the British SAS did. The roar of Helicopters sounded and Sakaki noticed three Russian Hind-D's flying in formation. The sight sent a shiver down her spine as it reminded her of a Soviet Special Forces group.

Sakaki sighed to herself and her shoulders dropped as she remembered what the world had become.

Sakaki threw her bag onto it and braced herself to haul herself into the truck, until a hand held itself out towards her. Sakaki looked up and saw Kagura's grinning face. Sakaki smiled and took the offer, and found herself pulled onto the floor of the truck. She sat down and nodded to her friends from school, who smiled and nodded back.

Sakaki sat next to Kaorin, who handed Sakaki her rifle, a G36, and prepared for the truck to set off. Usually, this would make Kaorin happier than ever, but the current atmosphere hung over them like a dark cloud.

Sakaki glanced at her friends one more time. Osaka was sleeping, her Dragunov sniper rifle cradled in her arms, Tomo's empty eyes just stared at the ceiling, Yomi's head resting on her shoulder. Both of their M4 carbines where on a rack behind them. Tomo's eyes drifted towards Sakaki, and a smile crossed her face, Sakaki smiled back.

The now twenty year old Chiyo sat next to Osaka, an M249 'SAW' leaning against her shoulder, the stock on the floor. Usually, The girls would find this comical, The girl that had been brighter than all of them in school carrying the biggest gun. Chiyo could of easily avoided all this, but she had wanted to be with her friends, and it wasn't the time for jokes.

Nyamo soon appeared at the back of the truck, it had been her that 'volunteered' everyone into the squad, keeping all the friends together from the beginning. She was wearing a camouflaged jacket with a high collar, and was wearing a drab green BDU cap. Her face lit up into the usual smile that Sakaki had gotten used to in her gym lessons.

"Sakaki…Glad we found you…" she said, climbing into the truck. Sakaki just smiled. Nyamo walked to the front of the truck's cargo area and banged on the wall separating driver from passengers. The machine roared into life and began to move down the centre of the road, passing soldiers marching up either side of it.

Luckily, Yukari was also sitting in the back, asleep. So they'd be spared the driving ordeal of Yukari driving a truck again.

Sakaki pulled her jacket tighter around her body, as her an Kagura where the last into the truck, they where closest to the opening, and leant her head against the trucks canvas wall as Kagura lit a cigarette opposite her and looked out of the back of the truck, her own AK-47 resting against her thigh.

No one spoke, No one saw the need to, How _had_ so much changed in seven years?

---

**End of Prelude.**


	2. Highway to Hell

**First long chapter! Much joyness.**

**Standard disclaimer rules still apply.**

_**---**_

_**Highway to Hell** _

The truck bounced along the road, various other vehicles passed them by. Sakaki watched them go past with half closed eyes. Kaorin was asleep, leaning against her shoulder, Sakaki smiled and glanced back into the truck, her eyes resting on Tomo for a few seconds. It made Sakaki begin to remember what had caused them to be stuck on this road.

It started a year after the girls had finished high-school, in Russia.

The government had began to feel pressure from the people about the state of the country. While the government tried to sort out the problems, a new political party arose to make their place in the political climate. The Soviets.

There where those scattered around the giant country, and the world, that believed the old ways where better, and decided to bring it back to how, in their eyes, things should be.

They eventually gathered enough of a following for the highest member of the party to get a seat in the government. For a while, everything was good, nothing really much happened, the occasional riot between Soviet supporters and those with other political views in various locations around the world. It wasn't until a soviet terrorist group took control of an abandoned Nuclear silo that the notch was turned up to ten.

The terrorists threatened to launch the aging missiles against random targets around the globe if their demands where not met. The Soviet political party denied any involvement with the terrorists, but everyone knew they had ordered it.

As if to prove a point to the world that they had not backed the terrorists, the soviets sent the new Red Army to crush the terrorists, and bring back the leaders for trial in front of the world.

The raid ended so badly, for the girls and the rest of the world, it was apocalyptic.

During the brutal battle, Some of the missiles where launched, while the remainder exploded in the launch bays, irradiating the north-eastern area of Siberia and an estimated 100 square kilometres of ocean. After the first week, this had spread to most of the northern hemisphere. The launched missiles exploded soon after launching. Unable to handle the stress of launch.

The Soviet army accused the Russian Army of interfering with it's carefully laid plans.

The Russian army blamed the Soviets for assaulting the silo's with no plan at all. The two armies almost came to a fight there and then, but the Russian president and the Soviet leader kept them apart. A peace was made, and the Russian President offered his country's help to those affected by the terrorist attack.

At least, for a year. Then the Soviets launched a new revolution, and stormed the Kremlin. Russia was engrossed in another civil war, that soon spread across Europe. It was seemingly all part of the plan.

And that's how it went, until the whole world seemingly erupted into war and was split into two factions, Soviet and Coalition.

It wasn't a normal case of East Vs West, The two factions where scattered all over the world, Coalition taking orders from the U.S President, Soviets from the Kremlin.

There where no formal fronts, and units from all over the world ended up in different places.

The war was simply described as one of 'Absolute and utter chaos'

That was how the group of girls from Tokyo managed to get their hands on weapons from all over the world, That was how they where all 'drafted' into the Coalition, only because most of the earths populace was fighting each other.

In this huge environmental and political catastrophe, Tokyo was nearly ignored.

It had been one of the targets on the terrorist's list.

The only missile to reach anywhere near its target had exploded in mid-air during it's final stage, the force of the launch and it's trip was too much for the old missile, and it self destructed over the coast of Japan. The city's population was spared the full devastation, but paid the price in the fallout that followed.

One of these was Tomo. All her friends had moved away from Tokyo, fearing the strike, but Tomo had stayed, mainly because of her family.

Like many that had stayed and those who weren't killed, Tomo received Radiation-Poisoning.

Sakaki wondered, now they where in the truck, how Tomo had survived this long. Apparently, she hadn't been close enough to receive a dose that would kill her in a few months, but just enough to slowly kill her over ten years. Sakaki could tell just by looking at her.

Black bags had developed under Tomo's eyes, and she'd turned almost white, but a sort of sickly grey at the same time. She had lost some weight, but she ate a lot more to keep the bulk of her body still around, and she did exercises every free moment to keep her muscle mass up. It had surprised Sakaki and the others, many thought she'd fall into a deep depression and give up. It had been quite the opposite. Her illness and the knowledge that she was going to die had seemed to motivate her to be the absolute best, seeing as she didn't have much time left, she decided to make the most of it.

The Wildcat's claws had been cut, but they'd just re-grown sharper.

A relief effort had been made to help the survivors, but most of them didn't see the point, and didn't even turn up at the aid camp. Tomo had, and it was thought that was how she'd managed to survive, from the emergency treatment. After that, she'd been re-united with her friends and for two years, they fought beside each other, here and there, mainly in the east of Asia and then the middle east. It wasn't until towards the end of their third year of fighting did actual battle fronts begin to form, and the girls where moved to eastern Europe.

Now, with the soviet forces being pushed back into Russia thanks to over-whelming U.S military troops and technology leading the Coalition Forces, the girls had been moved in to an area right on the front lines.

Sakaki looked up the truck, and at each of the faces. Chiyo, Yukari, Osaka, Yomi and Kaorin where asleep, how they managed to sleep in the bouncing truck baffled Sakaki.

Tomo's seemingly empty eyes where still looking at the canvas roof of the truck, Nyamo sat leaning forwards, thinking about something, and Kagura was looking out the back of the truck, smoking again.

They'd all been fighting together for about three years, learning the hard way how to be soldiers.

Tomo and Kagura had seemingly stepped into the role, taking it with out a second thought. Sakaki could understand Tomo, she wanted to take as many soviets to the grave with her as she could, for their plan to attack Tokyo and everything she cared about. Tomo could seemingly kill another without even blinking, it was something that still disturbed Sakaki, even though she herself was no saint.

Kagura didn't have a reason, other than her friends where doing it. Kagura once said she got through the days by thinking of it as a game, it was the only way she could handle what she was doing. She had the least amount of confirmed kills to her name, but that was only because she didn't bother to aim properly and just fired 'in their general direction'. The knowledge that she may not have killed so many people made her feel better as well.

Yomi's reasoning was Tomo, and Sakaki couldn't argue with that. Yomi was the radio operator, and did a very good job of it.

Kaorin stirred on Sakaki's shoulder, but stayed asleep. Sakaki felt sorry for her. The poor girl had learnt about treating battlefield wounds hands-on from day one. As much as it disturbed Kaorin, it didn't stop her from becoming better at it, then one of the best. Because of this, she developed a strange creed of never even touching a weapon, let alone use one. If she was a saver of lives, she said she had no right to take one.

Yukari and Nyamo had come along because they now looked after the girls. After what had happened to Tokyo, they became their official guardians in the world beyond the country.

Nyamo was a medic along side Kaorin, but was the de-facto commander of the group. Finally, unfortunately for Chiyo and Kaorin, Yukari was the squads driver/pilot, whatever the vehicle.

Osaka had given a reason, but it was so strange that Sakaki couldn't remember it. She just filled the role of sniper/marksman with a chilling effectiveness. Osaka had a tendency to talk about dreams she'd had when she was shooting, Everyone had decided that she did this to take her mind off what she was shooting at.

Chiyo was the only one that confused Sakaki, no one knew why she had decided to re-join them. She had a good life in America, and no one had said she had to come back, but she did.

The truck hit a pothole in the road and bounced violently, causing Kaorin's head to jump off Sakaki's shoulder and hit her head on the wood support behind her. Yukari only made an angry murmur and stayed asleep. Kaorin rubbed the back of her head and grumbled.

They where driving thought a forested environment, with high mountain ranges and hills, in the middle of winter. Wherever they where going, Sakaki couldn't think of a worse place.

"Shit!" came a shout, and Sakaki looked towards Tomo, who was holding a hypodermic needle in her hands. The tip of needle had snapped off as Tomo tried to inject the medicine for her illness. Tomo looked at the shortened needle, then back to her arm. She pulled her end of the needle out then carefully tried to slip the shorted needle into the hole, except the truck hit something and the needle jammed into her arm, tear an inch long cut.

Sakaki winced the same time as Tomo, then the broken, empty syringe flew past Sakaki's head and onto the road behind the truck.

"Hey, Kaorin? Lil' help?" asked Tomo, leaning forwards, offering her bleeding arm towards her, blood began to drip off Tomo's arm and onto the floor. Kaorin frowned and reached for her medic bag, the dirty medic armband on her sleeve becoming visible.

"I really wish you'd just ask me for a new needle when that happens…" said Kaorin irritably, trying a bandage around Tomo's arm. Tomo just smirked and winked.

"Where's the fun in that?" she said, leaning back.

"I don't have many bandages left!" said Kaorin, "The ones I do have I keep having to cut them up for you!" she said.

Tomo chuckled, "Oh C'mon, I don't mess up that often" she said.

"You do enough…" said Kaorin, "I hope there's some more supplies wherever we're taken, Sakaki," she said, rummaging through her bag, "I don't have much left" she said. Sakaki smiled.

"I'm sure there will be, It's supposed to be a staging area" she said, then looked up the truck.

"Grab what you can when we stop, food, ammo, jackets. Whatever you can beg, you beg, ok?" she said. The girls nodded.

"Yes Ma'am" they said as one, at least the ones that where awake did anyway. Sakaki smiled.

She felt awkward ordering her friends about what they should do, Tomo was the leader in High-school, not Sakaki.

But Sakaki was the Captain, and duty has its demands.

Sakaki sighed and looked back toward Tomo. Tomo was looking at one of her M16 magazines, loading bullets into it.

"Tomo, how are you for your injections?" she asked, Tomo smiled.

"I got enough, should last me at least two weeks" she said, putting her head back and closing her eyes.

"Ok…Don't end up getting addicted to them" said Sakaki. Kagura smiled opposite her.

Tomo looked back down, "But they make all the pretty lights come back…" she said, arching her eyebrows. Then she grinned how she used to. Sakaki smiled back. Kagura threw the end of her cigerette out of the truck.

"You worry too much Sakaki" she said.

"I'm only looking out for my friends…" she said, looking down to the floor.

"I know you are Sakaki, but you asked Tomo that three times since we found you." she said raising her eyebrows.

"Have I?" said Sakaki, looking up the truck, the girls nodded.

"Oh…sorry…she said.

The truck continued along, everyone sat in silence.

"I suppose you want to know where we're going…" said Nyamo finally, leaning forwards slightly.

"That would be a help," said Tomo, cricking her neck.

"We've been ordered to occupy an old outpost, apparently the reds are planning a huge counter attack east of this position, our job is to guard the western most part of this part of the front, in case any stragglers turn up." she said.

"Whoa, hold on…" said Kagura, "We're being dumped on the edge of the line? What are we supposed to do there!?" she said.

"I just told you…" said Nyamo.

"I know, but why can't we go east? Where the action is!?" she said, waving her arms about.

"There's too many troops heading over there, the counter attack is supposed to be massive, at least that's what we can gather from the satellite photos" said Nyamo, "We're pouring so many troops over there that the fight would be over before you got anywhere _near _the front" she smiled. Kagura huffed and sat back, looking out the back of the truck,

"So we've all been worrying over nothing? We thought this was going to be some kind of meat-grinder." she said.

"Yes, Sorry. Anyway, once we get to the base of operations for this area, we'll have at least two hours before we leave for the outpost, so catch what rest you can, especially you Tomo. And anyone else try and get anything you think you'd need, ammo, food, whatever, just like Sakaki said earlier." said Nyamo, looking at the awake girls.

"How about just stealing what we might need?" asked Tomo, jokingly. Nyamo glanced at her, and run her tongue over her teeth.

"How you…Acquire what's needed isn't my concern" she said. Tomo was a little surprised, she had been joking, but kept her mouth shut.

"How are we getting there?" asked Kagura, folding her arms.

"Chopper." she said, and waited for the inevitable…

"What!?" cried Kagura, "Is that why Yukari's wearing her flight suit?!" she said.

Nyamo nodded slowly. "Yes…" she said, "Why else would she be wearing it?"

"Because she felt like it!?" cried Kagura, "Coach…Nyamo…Please…Don't let her pilot…" pleaded Kagura.

Nyamo still felt awkward not being called 'Sensei' by the girls anymore.

"Oh my God, this is gonna be so cool!" said Tomo.

"No it isn't!" hissed Kagura, "It's a good thing Chiyo's asleep!" she said.

"Look, Yukari is our pilot, as much as high the risk of potential death is, We don't have a choice" said Nyamo, glancing at the sleeping Yukari.

"Oh man," said Kagura, leaning back and placing a hand against her forehead, "This is going to be like the 'Yukari-Mobile' on steroids…I thought those Humvee's where bad enough" she said. Sakaki smiled weakly.

"How do you feel about that Kaorin? Kaorin?" she asked.

Kaorin had turned white, and was shaking, she began to rub her hands together.

"I…I d…d…don't think I…I…can fix people from a…a helicopter c…crash…" she whimpered, looking down at her little medic bag.

Nyamo smiled warmly, "Don't worry Kaorin, we're not going to crash"

"Keep telling yourself that…" came the sleepily tone from a dreamy Yukari.

"Your not helping!" shouted Nyamo.

--

They arrived at the Base of Operations about an hour later. They piled out the back of the truck on to the frozen ground.

"Agh! Dammit!" yelled Tomo, as the impact jarred her legs.

As she looked down, her helmet fell from her head and landed on Yomi's left foot.

"Ow! Tomo! Buckle the helmet up!" yelled Yomi. Tomo just grinned and picked it up.

"Guess I…" Tomo blinked, then shook her head, "Guess I forgot!" she said.

"You alright?" asked Yomi.

"Don't worry it's the medicine." said Tomo.

"Echo-174! Attention!" shouted Sakaki, and the girls arranged themselves into line. Nyamo nodded to Sakaki, who then joined the line.

"Alright, our building the next two hours is over there, Those who want it, and need it, get some rest, and the others go on a supply hunt" said Nyamo, then turned to walk to the command building. Yukari had already walked over to the hanger to secure a Blackhawk for the trip to the outpost.

Nyamo turned as she watched Sakaki and Kaorin walk towards the storage area. Nyamo frowned when she saw a third person with them. The soldier was wearing a helmet, and had it tilted back in a way that someone wouldn't be able to tell who it was if looking from the back.

But Nyamo recognised the walk, that confident stroll she'd seen so many times in her gym lessons. Nyamo walked up to the soldier and folded her arms.

"Tomo…Where are you going?" she said. Tomo turned and smiled.

"To help with the supply hunt, duh!" she said, making to walk off again. Nyamo reached out and grabbed the collar of her combat jacket.

"No your not, get back to the hut and rest, you need it Tomo" said Nyamo, sternly but worry.

Tomo turned to look at Nyamo, who felt smaller having to look at Tomo's eyes. They had lost all the spark they used to have, and the dark bags made Tomo look like she had two black eyes. Nyamo couldn't help but notice though, that tiny little glint in the corner of her eyes. Tomo just roughly pulled away from her and set off to the armoury.

"I can sleep when I'm dead…" she said as she walked away, lazily waving away any feelings about what she'd said. Nyamo held out a hand towards her.

"Leave her Nyamo, You know what she's like" said Yomi, walking up behind Nyamo.

"I know, but…" she started, but found herself unable to finish, watching the wildcat stomp off towards the armoury.

"She needs her rest…You know what those drugs do to her head after takes them" she said. Yomi nodded.

"Yeah…It makes her a little loopy…but what's the difference?" she said.

"A little? Last time she thought she was being chased by the beds and ran into the wall…" said Nyamo. Yomi giggled.

"I know…But just let her do what she has too, she's still the best at getting us what we need…" Yomi paused for a second, looking around, "Under the radar…" she said carefully.

Nyamo nodded, 'Under the Radar' was something the girls said when they just took what they needed without telling anybody.

"She's not the wildcat she used to be" said Nyamo, folding her arms.

"Of course she's not the wildcat she used to be…" said Yomi, "She's a Nuclear Wildcat now"

Nyamo chuckled then sighed.

"I'm sort of glad you girls are being dumped in that outpost, I got a feeling the war is going to end soon, and I want you all around at the end of it" she said. Yomi smiled.

"Thanks for caring," she said, "most of these higher-ups couldn't give a damn about us" she said, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

Kaorin walked into the warehouse with Sakaki, and walked up to the desk.

"Medical supplies please," she said. The American behind the desk was reading a newspaper,

"Row 36-C," he said with a rough Brooklyn accent, "The medic field kit is on Row 37-C" he said, leaning forwards, picking up a piece of paper and a clipboard.

"Write down what you's take on here, then give it to me" he said, leaning back in his chair,

"Thank you…" said Kaorin, walking off to the giant selves in the behind the desk.

"What can I do for you, Ma'am?" asked the soldier, looking towards Sakaki and saluting. Sakaki returned the salute. "Do you, 'repair' guns here?" she asked.

"I'll 'repair' it cheaper than those mook's in the armoury, Whatcha' got?" asked the soldier, sitting up and putting the newspaper down.

The 'Repairing' didn't involve fixing something broken. Sakaki's G36 was firing perfect. This kind of 'repairing' was upgrades.

Sakaki un-slung her rifle and placed it on the counter, then pulled a box out of a pouch on her belt.

"Ahh…G36...Don't see many of these round here" said the soldier, "What a looker…" he said, looking down the field-scope.

"I need that put in it…" said Sakaki, pushing the box forwards.

"Ah, A 'Zero' trigger eh?" he asked, taking the box, "This one too stiff?" he asked, as he began to strip the rifle down.

"Too slow to pull, I need something lighter." said Sakaki.

"Righto, Suppose that make all the difference eh?…Go after your friend and this'll be done when you get back." he said.

"Thanks," said Sakaki, dumping money and what looked like gold trinkets on the desk.

"No…Thank _you_, ma'am" said the soldier, looking at the gold on his desk, he quickly swept it into a trey and placed it under the counter.

"Y'know…You honest ones are alright…" he said. Sakaki smiled.

"You didn't get it from me…"

"Loud and clear Captain." said the soldier, winking.

Sakaki smiled again and walked into the forest of shelves and equipment.

-

Kaorin walked though the shelves, humming to herself and putting what she needed into a box on a flat-bed trolley behind her. She'd found a Battlefield Surgeon's backpack which was about five feet in length when it was unfolded, and would give Kaorin easy and quick access to what she needed.

Kaorin had decided not to miss the opportunity and dumped in the crate, and was glad because she'd now be able to treat the more serious wounds in the field before a medi-vac arrived. Now she had filled her medic bag slung over her shoulder with new bandages, morphine, a few I.V bags and some scissors she'd been desperately searching for. Now she was looking for everything she'd need to fill the backpack. So far she'd found bigger bandages, a stitching kit, she'd taken two of those, and various medicines and other bits and pieces. As she was checking the clipboard, she placed her hand on a box, she looked up and found it to be a surgeons kit. Kaorin swallowed and slowly pulled the kit off the shelf and placed it into the box.

Kaorin shuddered as she though who she might have to use the instruments inside it on.

"Please don't make me have to use them on Miss Sakaki…" she whispered. Kaorin eventually stood up and wiped her tears away, then went back to filling the crate.

"You'd think I'd have the guts to tell her by now," she said to clipboard, "I mean, Two years being shot at and sticking people back together, and being twenty five! I'd of thought I'd build a little bit of confidence…Ohhhh" her chain of thought was broken as she saw a helmet with the medic red crosses painted on the sides and front. "Yes please!" she said, pulling it off the shelf, happily, she found that it fit perfect, she wouldn't have to ask Yomi to adjust it for her. Kaorin giggled and undid the chinstrap, tilting the helmet to one side.

"Right…Where was I…Oh yeah! Right…That's it! I'm going to tell her! I'll tell her exactly how I feel!" she said, feeling a burst of confidence throughout her body.

"Tell who?" came a voice, Kaorin turned with her eyes closed,

"Why Miss Sakaki of cour--ACK!" Kaorin's words where cut off as she realised it was Sakaki who was standing behind her. All the confidence seemed to run away.

"Oh? Tell me what?" asked Sakaki, smiling to put Kaorin at ease.

"Er…Er… " said Kaorin, looking frantically back and fore, then she started laughing and scratched the back of her head. Kaorin was nearly as tall as Sakaki now, just like everyone else, and she didn't have to look up as much as she used to.

"A…About…about how your such a great squad leader!" she said, laughing again. Sakaki frowned and looked at Kaorin, the girl had always been a little…sporadic around her, but Sakaki just brushed it off.

"You nearly got what you need?" she asked. Kaorin nodded frantically, she felt like she was in high school again.

"Ok…I'm going to look for a better jacket, write it down for me…" said Sakaki, walking towards a different aisle.

"Ok Miss Sakaki!" said Kaorin, and began to write it down.

"You look cute in that helmet Kaorin…" said Sakaki softly, as she disappeared around a stack of crates.

"Th…Thank you…" said Kaorin, then set about finishing off her re-supply.

Soon, they'd both finished and made their way back to the front desk. The soldier from Brooklyn was back to reading his newspaper. Kaorin walked up and placed the clipboard on the desk.

The soldier sat up and read it.

"Damn, You's heading to the front?" he asked Kaorin,

"Something like that, but It's better to be safe than sorry!" said Kaorin, laughing.

"Yeah, Your right, who knows what you might run into…" he said, handing a piece of paper to Kaorin, "Sign here…"

"Your G36 is done as well, Try it out" the soldier said, picking up the rifle and handing it to Sakaki.

Sakaki shouldered the weapon, pulled the trigger and the gun gave a hollow click. She was surprised by the little resistance and how quickly the trigger flicked back.

"T…That's a lot better…Thank you" said Sakaki.

"No worries," said the soldier, "You two be careful now, you hear?" he said, as he picked up his newspaper while Sakaki and Kaorin left the warehouse.

---

About an hour later, all the girls where in the hut sitting and talking, or just laying on the beds. Suddenly, the door burst open.

"Ok!" shouted Tomo, dumping a crate on the floor of the hut they where staying in. The crate landed with a loud bang and the wood rattled on it.

"What's in that?" asked Kagura, looking down.

"Ammo!" said a cheerful Tomo.

"TOMO!" shouted Yomi, "Are you insane!?"

"What?" she asked, then looked down at the crate, "Oh…that, sorry!" she said, "Well, Grab what you need!" she said, pulling the cover off the crate, "I can always go back for more!"

Everyone lent over to look into the crate, and all paled at the same time.

"You had grenades in there!?" shouted Yomi.

"Guess I forgot about those…" said Tomo, scratching the back of her head.

As Yomi began to chase Tomo around the hut, Osaka leant forwards and searched for the calibre of her rifle.

"Your not blaming it on the medicine this time!" shouted Yomi,

"Say, You sure do have a lot of bullets in here…" said Osaka.

Tomo stopped, giving Yomi a chance to catch up.

"Well, Ye-AH!" cried Tomo as Yomi, slapped on the back of the head. Yomi then went back and picked up two boxes and began to load her empty magazines.

Osaka pulled out a box of 7.62 calibre and began to load the magazines for the Dragunov.

"Hey, Osaka," said Yomi looking up from loading her own magazines.

"Yeah, What it is?" Osaka drawled, pushing bullets into the clip.

"How come you don't carry a back up weapon?" she asked. Kagura's eyes flicked between Osaka and loading her clips.

"Because…I'm usually too far away to use one" she said dreamily.

"But what if the enemy get to close for you to use your rifle?" asked Tomo,

"Then I'll most likely be dead," said Osaka, completely casual.

Sakaki shifted at Osaka's reply.

Kagura stood and pulled a Colt 1911 and magazines from her pack, then walked over to Osaka.

It wasn't long before all the magazines had been reloaded, and the girls went back to talking.

Kagura lay on one of the beds, plucking strings on an acoustic guitar she found in the hut. It wasn't long before the slow noises became a tune, and all the girls turned to look at her.

The talking trailed off as Kagura played the slow song, and they began to think about home, and everything they'd done. Sakaki looked down as she felt Kaorin's hand brush against hers. Kaorin was staring at the floor.

Nyamo soon walked into the hut, wearing her own flight suit and carrying a helmet under her arm.

"You all ready?" she asked. The girls slowly nodded as Kagura swept her hand down the guitar, ending whatever she had been playing.

"Lets go and get this over with" she said, standing up and picking up her AK. Everyone was wearing their combat gear, Sakaki, Tomo and Kagura carried bags which had extra ammo and other things they could need.

As they walked towards the airfield, Chiyo began to turn pale.

"This can't be happening…Miss Kurosawa is piloting isn't she…?" she said, shaking.

"Er…Yeah!" said Kagura, pushing Chiyo along before she could see Yukari making her pre-flight checks.

They all got into the Blackhawk and relaxed, it was a thirty minute flight to the outpost, so they tried to get some sleep before the flight started.

"Ok! Everyone on board? Lets get doing!" said Yukari, turning around.

"You told me Miss Kurosawa was the pilot!" screamed Chiyo as the Blackhawk took to the skies.

---

**And this is where sanity and rational reasoning ends. Now the horror begins.**


	3. Welcome to Outpost 3326

**Here we are at chapter 3! This is where the weird stuff starts happening and the horror element begins.**

**Standard disclaimer rules apply.**

**Speech pattern guide:**

"Normal speech"

_Thoughts _

_"Radio Transmissions"_

_**---**_

_**Welcome to Outpost 33-26**_

The snow covered landscape passed silently below the Blackhawk. Occasionally there would be a winding road or a stream, cutting black snake-like trails through the snow.

Trees where everywhere, some with no leaves, just skeleton branches reaching for the sky, and some that had been blown in half. Tomo sat on the left side of the helicopter, her right leg hanging out of the open door, watching the countryside below. Her M4 lay on her lap and Tomo was absently flicking the safety on and off, her MP5-Ks were in holsters on her legs.

The flight wasn't as bad as everyone was making it out to be, there wasn't exactly anything for Yukari to run into in midair, and once she found out she could just keep her hands in one position, she relaxed and let the helicopter carry on. They'd been flying without incident for at least twenty-five minutes.

Tomo felt something churn in her stomach, a side effect of the medicine for the radiation poisoning. Tomo sighed and undid her helmet strap, tilting the helmet back a little. She didn't understand what the poisoning was doing to her, other than it was slowly killing her. Tomo undid the top button on her jacket and unzipped it a little. She felt strangely hot and didn't know why, it was the middle of winter.

She glanced to her right as another Blackhawk passed by, heading back to the base. The doors were shut and Tomo could see the stretchers stacked up inside as the two passed parallel.

Tomo sighed and wondered when it would be her turn to be laying on one of those stretchers.

Tomo looked back into the hold. Yomi was messing about with her radio, trying to tune it into the home base, Sakaki was doing what Tomo was doing, except on the other side of the helicopter.

Kagura was resting her head against the wall which Yukari was behind, her fingers tapping against the body of her AK. Osaka was staring at the floor of the Black Hawk, sitting completely still.

Chiyo was asleep with her head against Yomi's shoulder. Kaorin actually had to knock her out with something, she was kicking up so much of a fuss during take off. She wasn't as little as she used to be, and when she was holding a loaded M249, no one wanted her panicking.

Kaorin was looking at Sakaki, and Tomo could make out the slightest hint of red on her cheeks.

Tomo chuckled and turned back to looking out the door.

Tomo felt her stomach churn again as she looked down at the floor. She began to wonder what would happen if she fell out of the Blackhawk.

_Would I miss all the trees? Or would I get caught in one…maybe I'll only break a leg…Hopefully I'll D…_Tomo stopped herself from finishing that thought.

This was how Tomo killed her boredom, wondering what would happen in certain situations. Nearly all of them resulted in her death, but Tomo didn't care. She was going to die anyway, and she hoped it would be something quick and clean. But quick and messy would be good, one last annoyance to who ever had to clean up. Anything except the slow one she had been told would happen.

Ahead, she could see a rocky outcrop on top of a hill rising up over the forested plains. Tomo could begin to make out the walls of the outpost, one ran along the length of the giant rocks that where the top of the hill, while another piece moved at an angle away from it. In the blasted hillside in front of the outpost, there was a basic trench system and a shape that Tomo couldn't quite make out.

As the helicopter got closer, she could see the flat stone walls and the firing holes cut into it, that looked like long rectangles. Two pill boxes sat on either end of the flattest part of the outpost.

"Yukari, make a fly-by, I want to see the back of this place." said Sakaki, speaking into the headset that connected her to the cockpit. The Blackhawk moved behind the rocks on top of the hill, which now had revealed themselves to be part of the landscape. The back of the outpost was a sheer cliff face, no way around for attacking forces to go without having to walk into fire from whomever was inside the building. Sakaki noted a few view ports cut into the rock, just to watch out for any attacks to the rear of the outpost.

Tomo watched with uninterested eyes, if this was to be their home until told other wise, so be it.

_Lucky we don't have a lot of gear to carry then…_she thought as the front of the outpost came into view again.

"Take us down Yukari." said Sakaki.

"Ok! Going down!" shouted Yukari, as the helicopter jolted downwards. The girls yelped and looked for something to hold on to. Except Tomo.

"WHOO!!" she shouted as the Blackhawk jerked and turned.

Yukari swung the large helicopter around until she decided it was in a good enough position for a landing. Eventually, she touched the helicopter down on the helipad.

"Ok we're here!" said Yukari happily as she turned off the rotors. The girls piled out as fast as they could, the landing reminding them of the Yukari mobile, But as soon as their feet touched the concrete roof of the outpost, their training took over.

The girls fanned out and knelt down, all guns shouldered and aimed towards positions in front of them. Sakaki remained standing, she was holding her hat on from the downdraft of the helicopter, and as the turbines whined and the blades began to slow, she removed her hand.

"Alright, I want a perimeter set," started Sakaki, unfolding the stock of her rifle and looking around the roof.

"Tomo, Kagura, Check and clear the interior, try and get the power on while your in there." she said.

"On it!" said Kagura, as she run past Tomo and tapped her on the shoulder. Tomo got up and ran after Kagura, towards the entrance to the outpost's interior. As Tomo descended the stairs, Kagura covered her, then walked down after her. Sakaki turned from watching them.

"Alright, Yomi, move down towards the other end of the outpost, Chiyo, the middle. Osaka stay here and cover, Kaorin stay with the bird, Understood?"

"Roger." said they all said.

"We don't have enough eyes to cover this place, so everyone's going to be watching a big part, We stay in position until the interior is clear. Alright, move!" she barked, and the girls sprung into action.

As they moved off, the radio crackled behind them. Nyamo moved to listen to it.

"_*zzzt*-eat, Are you in pos*zzzt*on, Over?"_

Nyamo frowned and turned some dials on the radio, then held the microphone to her mouth.

"This is 'Echo' squad 174, We are in position as Outpost 33-26. Location currently being secured, Over." she said. Yukari chuckled and rolled her eyes at her friends professional tone.

"_Ro*zzzt*, 'Kilo'-142 a*zzzt* 'Fox-11' squads being mov*zzzt*d up now." _said the static laden voice.

"Hello? Falcon? Did you hear me?" said Nyamo.

"_*zzzt*-ill Awaiting rep*zzzt* from *zzzt* cho-174 zzzt*"_

"H…Hey! We're in position at outpost 33-26! Over!" shouted Nyamo.

The radio just descended into white noise.

"Hey!" shouted Nyamo again, hitting the radio with her hand.

"Can't you do something about that radio?" asked Yukari, irritated.

"It was fine back at the base!" said Nyamo, turned knobs and flicking switches. Every time she nearly got the signal back, static just overpowered the voices.

"Hey…what y'all think those are for?" asked Osaka, looking down at the trench system.

"Don't know, Don't care." said Yukari, stretching her arms over her head.

---

Tomo and Kagura reached the bottom of the stairs and flattened themselves against the wall.

"Do you really think there's anything down here?" whispered Kagura.

"Doubt it," said Tomo, "But lets just clear it and get back outside, this place gives me the creeps."

"I agree with that." said Kagura, "I'm heading to the generator, ok?"

"Roger," said Tomo, as Kagura began to walk down the first side corridor. Tomo began to stroll down the main corridor.

There was one large walkway that led down the front of the outpost, with sub-corridors to her left leading to different places. Tomo noted all the signs as she walked past them.

The first corridor that Kagura had walked down had 'C.O's office & Radio room. To Generator & Test Room'. Tomo raised an eyebrow and carried on.

She past stenciled Russian on the walls that read 'Medical', 'Barracks' and finally 'Armoury'.

All of them had a rusty wire gate that was wide open.

Tomo frowned slightly as she past them by, for an outpost, this place sure had a lot of facilities. What was a test room for?

Tomo reached the other end of the main corridor, then turned to look back up. The stairs she'd descended seemed further away than she though. A beam of light shone done the stairs into the gloomy interior. Tomo chuckled.

"What's that? Stairway to heaven?" she said dryly, turning back around. Tomo looked to her left and found herself looking into a pillbox with a giant Russian 'Dushka' machine gun on a swivel mount. Tomo whistled slowly.

"Damn…" she said, a smirk on her face. As she admired the gun, she heard something shuffle up on of the corridors.

"Hey, Kagura! That you?" she said, slinging her M4 over her shoulder and pulling one of her MP5-K's from its holster on her leg, along with a torch. There wasn't a lot of light from the fire ports reaching up to the tops of the corridors, and it faded into blackness. Tomo flicked the safety off the MP5 and began to make her way up the corridor marked 'Barracks'.

Tomo looked up the sub-corridor, six large rooms, three on each side, ran up the length of the gloomy passage. Tomo swallowed and stepped through the gate.

The torch gave Tomo a little comfort, as dim as it was, but as she moved forwards she could feel the darkness closing behind her again. The corridor was nothing to write home about, it was either painted grey or when the outpost was built no-one bothered to paint the walls. Dust swarmed in front of the torch, and the shadows seemed to retreat back into the rooms.

Tomo pointed the torch into the first and second rooms.

There wasn't not much in the rooms, some bunk beds, footlockers and a desk or two.

As Tomo was about halfway up the corridor and was clearing a room to her left. Something clicked and Tomo spun on the spot, gun pointed straight behind her. There was nothing there, just the doors of the rooms she had already cleared.

Tomo frowned and made her way towards the two top rooms. Tomo couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched.

The only sounds were the creak of Tomo's leather boots and the crunch of dirt along the floor.

"Hello…?" Tomo said, becoming on edge. Tomo realised that there could easily be soviet troops in the rooms. She could easily die here and wouldn't even realise until she was dead.

Something in one of the rooms ahead fell over, sending a clattering echo throughout. Tomo jumped and aimed the SMG at the room, shining the torch into it. The room was empty apart from the few bunk-beds and foot lockers. She run her tongue over her teeth as she pointed the torch into the opposite room and swept the MP5-K back and fore.

The room was clear. Just like the others.

Tomo repeated the action with the final room. As she was about to turn and walk out, something bumped in one of the rooms she'd just cleared behind her.

It wasn't her mind playing tricks, _something _defiantly hit _something_. Tomo frowned and pointed her gun at the open door, one of the second doors up the right. She felt her skin crawl and a cold feeling swept down her legs.

"Kagura…If that's you this isn't funny!" she called, trying to sound imposing and edging back against the wall at the top of the corridor. Something else skittered along the floor in the room to her right, and the MP5 and torch swung that direction faster than Tomo thought she could move.

As Tomo stared into the room, the wire gate at the bottom of the corridor screeched and closed with a clatter. Tomo yelped as it did so.

Tomo's breathing became short and sharp. There was defiantly someone or something in the corridor with her. The torch flickered, and Tomo struck it against the MP5, it flicked off for a few seconds, and all Tomo could hear was her own frantic breathing.

Something that sounded like breathing through a gas-mask sounded in a room. Tomo didn't know which one, it seemed to come from right in front of her.

Silence descended in the blackness, and Tomo felt utterly alone. The noises of someone moving about filled the room to her left, and when she turned to look, the noises stopped. The same crackling noises happened in the room behind her, and Tomo turned to look. As she turned, the noise came from _behind_ again.

Tomo had looked back and fore so fast she'd become dizzy and disorientated, she didn't know which room she was looking at anymore.

There was a sound like rushing wind and footsteps, Tomo spun on the spot, her breathing becoming more and more sharp.

Tomo's eyes fixed on the room to her left, there was defiantly something _in_ there. Something was watching her.

Tomo straightened the MP5 at the door, the flickering torch dropped to her side, pointing down the corridor towards the room where she'd heard the thump. Something moved in the room to her right. Tomo nearly jumped out of her skin and looked towards it.

Tomo gulped as she saw a shape standing in the back of the room to her right. The shape looked like a soldier wearing a trench coat, head hanging down and facing towards the floor.

"H…Hey…who're you…?" she whispered, levelling the MP5 towards the shape.

Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered for a second and Tomo screamed, letting off a burst from the MP5 at the Soviet soldier watching her.

As she fumbled for the second gun, she felt something grab the back of her collar and pull her screaming into the darkness of the room behind her.

The torch clattered against the floor.

---

On the helipad, Sakaki's head flicked towards the staircase as she heard the burst from the MP5.

"Chiyo! Kaorin! On me!" she called, running towards the stairs. Chiyo and Kaorin ran down the steps and as they reached the bottom, Kagura ran from the first corridor. The lights were now all on, lighting up the interior.

"Clear!" Chiyo shouted, Sakaki stood up from her kneeling position.

The report of the MP5's sounded, eventually turning into empty clicks.

"Down here!" shouted Sakaki, leading them down the main corridor, checking each one with guns pointed towards the top. They reached the one marked 'Barracks' and saw it was empty.

"Tomo! Are you up there?!" shouted Sakaki, "Get this gate open!" she shouted, and Kagura grabbed the gate and pulled it open.

They ran up to the corridor, and found Tomo in the room to their right, both MP5's pointing at the opposite room. Tome was shaking and breathing heavily, the brass casings from the MP5's littered the floor around her.

Sakaki knelt down next to Tomo, gently pushing the MP5's down.

"What is it Tomo? What's there?" said Sakaki, glancing down at her. Kaorin was on the other side, checking Tomo for wounds.

"Where are you hit?" she asked, Tomo just stared into the room, her eyes wide and lips trembling.

"Tomo! Are you hit!?" Kaorin shouted. Tomo's eyes were wide and just continued staring at the opposite room. Sakaki flicked her head and Kagura walked into the room to clear it. She looked at the trench coat that had been hanging off a wall hook. Kagura noticed the bullet holes in it.

It didn't take long to put two and two together, if Tomo had been checking the rooms and the lights suddenly came on, she probably thought it was a enemy soldier.

"Sorry Tomo, I should of warned you the lights where coming on…" she said.

Tomo just kept staring ahead of her.

"R…Rea…There's a Reaver…" she stuttered. Sakaki sighed,

"No, it was just a coat," she said, helping Tomo up, "We killed all the Reavers, remember?"

"There's someone in here…In the rooms…" said Tomo.

"Chiyo, take her out for some air." said Sakaki. Chiyo nodded.

"Come on Tomo, get some fresh air, it'll make you feel better" said Chiyo sweetly, as she led Tomo back to the stairs to the helipad.

Sakaki tuned towards Kaorin, "Well?" she asked, concerned.

Kaorin sighed and stood up.

"I'll bet it's those injections again. The after-effects happen at random times remember, but this is the latest I've ever known her suffer from one"

"Did she take another dose?" asked Sakaki, Kagura and Kaorin looked at each other.

"I don't think she did…" said Kagura, "Better asking her or Yomi". Sakaki sighed and rubbed her face with her right hand.

"Ok, as long as there aren't any hostiles in here." she said, then turned to Kagura.

"Anything downstairs?" she asked.

"Nothing, just some stairs leading down towards another corridor that looks like its going even deeper. Generator works perfectly, even got some full drums down there"

"Full?" asked Sakaki, frowning.

"Yeah, Enough to keep everything in this place running for at least…a month, give or take" said Kagura. Sakaki frowned, then walked back onto the helipad.

"Yomi!" she called, and the glasses wearing girl walked over to her.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I need you to go and check the armoury and medical supplies. Write down everything you find and give me an estimate on how long what ever you find will last, ok?" said Sakaki. Yomi nodded, and slung her M4 over her shoulder.

"Chiyo? Can you help her out?" asked Sakaki. The smaller girl nodded and walked after Yomi.

"While your at it, try to find anything left by the squad that was here before us." said Sakaki.

"You got it." said Yomi, saluting.

Chiyo and Yomi walked back inside the outpost, leaving a shaken Tomo sitting against the parapet. Sakaki frowned and walked over to her. She seemed even more pale than usual.

"Hey Tomo, are you alright?" she asked. Tomo looked up at her, sweating, she nodded slowly.

"I'll be fine…" she said, standing up. "Just got spooked s'all"

"Spooked? Tomo, you looked like you where terrified, what did you see?" said Sakaki. Tomo went to open her mouth to tell Sakaki what she'd heard, but some kind of self-respect to her old-self kept it in.

"That coat is all, It just scared me. Thought it was a Reaver." said Tomo smiling. Sakaki smiled back.

_Why a Reaver? _Sakaki wanted to ask, but decided against it.

"Alright. Take it easy for the next hour." she said then walked back over to the Blackhawk to talk to Nyamo.

"We'll be heading back, I have to report us in" said Nyamo, "Will you guys be ok here until tomorrow morning?". Sakaki nodded.

"We should be, I can't see anything much happening here…" she said, "Can you do something for me?" asked Sakaki.

"What's that?" said Nyamo. Sakaki looked over the helipad.

"Can you find out what happened to the squad that was sent up here before us?" said Sakaki. Nyamo nodded.

"Alright…" she said, a little confused.

"Hey! Nyamo! Lets go already!" shouted Yukari from the helicopters cockpit. Nyamo frowned, then sighed.

"I'd better be off…Keep your heads down…" she said. Sakaki nodded and saluted. Nyamo returned the salute and ran to the helicopter.

Sakaki pulled her cap down to cover her eyes as the Blackhawk started up, then climbed into the sky.

---

About an hour later, on the helipad, Sakaki rolled her head on her neck as Yomi and Chiyo came back out of the outpost.

"Sakaki, We made a list on everything that was here" said Yomi handing the clipboard to Sakaki.

"A list?" asked Sakaki, beginning to flick though the three pages "How much stuff is here!?"

"Well…It's fully stocked. Ammo, medical supplies. The operation-theatre is ready to go" said Yomi.

"What?" said Kaorin, "Operating theatre?"

"Yes, but there's no instruments or anything like that, just the tables and gloves" said Chiyo.

"How much ammo is here?" asked Sakaki, putting the clipboard down.

"Er…" said Yomi, then looked at Chiyo, "…according to Chiyo, if we linked the belts for those 'Dushka's' together, we could fire them non-stop for at least five days"

"What?" gasped Sakaki, her shoulders dropped.

"That other squad might of requested supplies before they where pulled out." said Yomi.

Sakaki turned and braced her arms on the parapet, looking down the hill at a small convoy in the distance.

"Doesn't it seem odd to you?" she asked.

"How do you mean?" asked Chiyo, looking over the parapet.

"Just…it looks like it was built for a purpose, instead of being a simple outpost. I mean, it's got a full operating theatre, two machine guns, a radio room. A 'test' room. There's something about this place…" she said, "Gives me a strange feeling…".

Yomi and Chiyo looked between each other.

Chiyo just smiled. "Don't worry about it Miss Sakaki! Maybe something just got messed up and they re-stocked this place by accident." she said.

"Yeah, Probably…" said Sakaki. "I want to know about that second level and 'Test' room," she said, brushing some hair from her face, "Why build them if this is a simple outpost?"

Chiyo couldn't answer and looked down towards the trench system in front of them.

"Maybe because this place wasn't just a 'simple outpost' at one time?" said Kagura, joining the trio.

"I mean this place was where the war started, or near enough" she said, "Look, there's a busted up tank down there for a start."

"Yeah…I suppose" said Sakaki, as she looked down towards the destroyed tank just in front of the first trench.

Tomo re-joined the group and laughed, "Man Sakaki, Your so up tight sometimes" she said.

"The supply guys obviously screwed up and now we got a life of luxury until we're pulled out of here!" she said throwing her arms up into the air.

"I mean, We got warm beds, full sick bay, the best medic in the army…" said Tomo, Kaorin blushed slightly.

"Hey…You guys…" said Osaka.

"If we get bored we can try our luck with those Dushka's and shoot those trees."

"Guys…" said Osaka again.

"Or we could just rig this place to blow and go back to base!" Tomo finished proudly. Yomi just shook her head and sighed.

"Hey! Are y'all listenin'!?" shouted Osaka, looking accusingly back at the group.

The girls all turned to look at Osaka's sudden outburst. They all felt a little ashamed that Osaka was the only one doing what they all should of.

"What is it?" asked Kagura.

"Shhh…" said Osaka, closing her eyes. The girls looked between each other as Osaka fell silent.

"Can you hear that?" Osaka whispered. There was a dull rumbling sound in the air, as if it where coming from a long distance.

Sakaki pulled her binoculars to her eyes and began to adjust the focus.

"Can't see anything moving up here…That convoy is too far away." she said as a faint clanking sound began to grow in volume.

"Sounds like a tank…" said Yomi.

"But the only tank near us is…" said Tomo, frowning.

As they all turned and looked at the broken tank.

The noise stopped.

---

Back at the base Nyamo was flicking through some papers on a table with a large map on it. Nyamo wasn't really paying attention to the movements on the map, she was more concerned about the girls.

"Ah, Excuse me Ma'am? I need a check over on this, as a precaution," said an aide, handing Nyamo a clipboard.

"Sure, what's it for?" she asked sweetly. The aide smiled and shifted.

"It a repo supply list for an outpost, I just need a second check, Make sure I haven't missed anything…" he said.

Nyamo nodded and looked through the list, everything seemed to be in order.

"Well, everything seems fine…" said Nyamo, glancing to the top of the paper, she frowned when she read it, "Wait…What?" asked Nyamo, looking back through the paper on the clipboard.

"Why are all these supplies being repo'ed from Outpost 33-26?"

"They were sent up at the request of Bravo-224 two weeks ago." said the Lieutenant.

"Echo-174 are up there, shouldn't they need the supplies?" asked Nyamo.

The lieutenant frowned.

"But…We didn't receive a transmission from you." he said. Nyamo frowned, and then remembered Sakaki's question.

"What was the last contact with Bravo-224? _Where_ is Bravo-224?" said Nyamo.

The lieutenant swallowed. "Well they…"

"Oh for crying out loud!" shouted another lieutenant, a redheaded girl with a German accent.

Nyamo noticed they were both pilots, air force patches were sown onto their sleeves. Their name-tapes sown to their flight suits read 'Ikari' and redhead's 'Soryu'.

Nyamo guessed they were working in the operations room until the right people for the job arrived at the airbase.

"What Lieutenant Ikari, AKA '_baka', _here is trying to say, Bravo-224 went up to that outpost, and none of them came back down." said the lieutenant. Nyamo paled.

"What do you mean?"

"Alright, maybe I should be a little more broad." she said, flicking her head. Her blue eyes locked with Nyamo's.

"Bravo-224, Came back down in body bags." the redhead said bluntly.

"What!? What happened to them?" cried Nyamo, instantly worried for the girls.

"We think they came under attack, Soviet commando team went in a cleaned them out."

The redhead looked to her left and right, then leant closer to Nyamo, lowering her voice.

"I hear it was the Reavers…"

Nyamo jumped back with a slight yelp.

"Captain?" asked the male lieutenant.

"Sorry…Bad memories of the Reavers, that's all." said Nyamo.

"We've got the recording of the last known contact from Bravo-224, If you want to listen to it…" said the male lieutenant.

"Yeah…That might be helpful." said Nyamo, and followed the two pilots to the radio station.

A girl with short blue hair sat in front of one of the radios, Nyamo guessed she must of dyed it for some reason. The redhead walked straight over.

"Hey Ayanami! Play that last broadcast from 33-26." she said, loudly.

The room went dead, some people began to walk out.

"That broadcast has been deemed classified, Lieutenant Soryu." said 'Ayanami' in monotone.

"Well Captain…" said Soryu, turning to Nyamo.

"Kurosawa." said Nyamo.

"Captain Kurosawa here wants to hear it. Play the tape."

"Is it an order?" asked Ayanami.

"I can make it one." said Nyamo. She didn't like being so assertive sometimes, only when she had to.

"Very well. Major Katsuragi will have to be informed." said Ayanami.

"Be informed about what?" came a voice and a dark haired woman walked into the room. Nyamo instantly saluted. The major returned the salute.

"Hi! Major Misato Katsuragi at your service!" she said, holding out a hand. She was also wearing a olive-drab flight suit, with Major insignia pins on the collar and air force patches.

"Captain Minamo Kurosawa, C.O of 'Echo-174'." said Nyamo.

"Echo-174 huh? Wow!" said Misato, impressed. "So what does one of the 'Angels of Death' want with us?"

Nyamo shifted as she heard the nick-name for herself and the girls. They had been given it after defending a Coalition outpost a year and a half ago. They had been the only survivors and killed a significant number of the attacking Soviets. One of the American marines that came to save them called them 'Angels of Death' afterward, seeing that 'Echo-174' was made up of female members.

The name stuck and Nyamo wasn't really taken with it.

"I…I wanted to hear the last transmission from Bravo-224." said Nyamo. Misato's face paled.

"Are you sure? I mean…" she started. Nyamo frowned slightly.

"What is on that tape?" she asked. Misato sighed.

"Lieutenant Ibuki, get the recording." said Misato, and a woman with short brown hair brought over a tape, handed it to Ayanami, then left the room. Nyamo frowned, then turned to the radio.

The recording began to play.

"_Camp Falcon! This is Sergeant Collins of Bravo-224! There's something going on up here! We keep hearing noises and there's nothing out there! Nothing! Just that Goddam dead tank!" _The terrified soldier stopped and gunfire was heard, along with a yell.

"_Get the gun off him! Damn it…Jenkins keeps seeing soviet soldiers, we've cleared this place from top to bottom seven times, there's no-one here! Something happened up here, the reds look like they where experimenting with…I don't know! We need an immediate evac, fully armed! I said get that gun from him!"_

There was the sound of a door being pounded.

"_Jesus! Here they come!" _

"_This is impossible! They're dead! Echo-174 killed them all!" _

"_Damn it, Your soldiers! Go down fighting!" _

The next noise was of the door giving way, and slamming against the floor.

There was a synthesized voice saying something in Russian, a voice that made the hair on Nyamo's neck stand on end. The was the sound of frantic ranking of gun bolts and fumbling with magazines.

"_Fire! FIRE!!!" _

The transmission descended into white noise, occasionally, the sound came back with terrified screams and the sound of gun-fire. Calm Russian voices could be heard, sounding over a tannoy and saying something about 'Project-243 to be activated'. All the while, Bravo-224's terrified screams and gunfire sounded.

Eventually, the chilling transmission stopped.

"After that, a team of British SAS went up there, they didn't find anyone alive." said Misato.

"Did they find any enemy bodies?" said Nyamo.

"None, All we have of them is the voice on the transmission." said Misato.

"Told you it was the Reavers." said Soryu

"But…We killed them all…" said Nyamo, swallowing.

"Obviously you didn't." said the redhead.

"Either that or they've raised a new squad." said Misato, shooting a glare at the redhead.

"Alright," said Nyamo, "I'm going to contact my squad, ask them to report anything out of the ordinary." she said, saluting Misato. Misato returned the salute.

"Good luck Captain." she said, smiling. Nyamo weakly smiled back.

"Thank you Major…" she said.

Nyamo walked out of the radio hut with her hands in her pockets and onto the airfield, where Yukari was talking to the other pilots.

Nyamo was replaying the last known radio contact with Bravo-224 in her head. Maybe that redhead had been right, maybe a soviet commando team had gotten in and killed everyone. But it didn't feel right with Nyamo. If a soviet commando team had gotten in there, the base would be on full alert. A 30 minute Helicopter journey wasn't that far away from the Base-camp. But the base camp was quiet. No alerts had been raised, and no teams where out searching for any soviet squads.

But the radio, something had sounded off about the soldier's frantic screams. He sounded terrified.

It can't have been the Reavers, Nyamo had seen all the bodies. The dead don't move.

Another problem was the sound of the door giving way, The Reavers had _never_ been that strong.

Nyamo reached the airfield and walked over to Yukari's Blackhawk. Yukari was in the hanger talking to the other pilots. She was laughing about something, and gestured for Nyamo to join them. Nyamo smiled and waved, then climbed into the Blackhawks cockpit and turned on the radio. The distance wasn't that great, and Nyamo glanced up to the mountains as the radio warbled and screeched.

"Yomi, This is Nyamo…can you hear me? Over."

"_*zzzt* Nyamo? Hey, Th*zzzt*-gnals bad can't real*zzzt* hear you." _said Yomi. Nyamo sighed. The radio sounded the same as Bravo-224. Nyamo lifted her headset's mic to her mouth again.

"Yomi, If you can hear me, I'm pulling you out in the morning. Apparently, the Reavers are still around up there." she said. The radio warbled and whined, Nyamo swallowed.

"Yomi? Sakaki? Can you hear me? Echo-174 respond!"

"_*zzzt*-vers? *zzzt*-killed *zzzt* all. Re*zzzt*mber?_" came Yomi's voice.

"Look, Don't get to comfortable, Your being pulled back."

"_*zzzt*-ger Nyamo. See y*zzzt* then." _

Nyamo sighed and killed the link, taking the headset off, She put her head back against the seat and sighed, her eyes darting about the dials and switches above her. She had been trying to find a record of Outpost 33-26, but none existed, apparently it was a soviet bunker that was in a chain of bunkers that formed a defence line.

But there was one problem, there were no other bunkers anywhere near it. It had been built for something, and Nyamo didn't find anything about it. Even the Russian personnel on the base didn't know what reason Outpost 33-26 had been built for.

As she looked up towards the darkening skies over the mountains, she couldn't shake the feeling that was the last time she would hear any of the girls voices.

The next day would prove her partly right.

---

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review! It's your kind words that keep me writing!**


	4. Aika

OK! Here we are at chapter 4! Sorry its taken so long, honest!

**__**

Usual disclaimer rules apply, I only own Aika and some other characters mentioned in this ;).

This chapter is for 'KittyAttack', who stoked the 'Ashes' fire enough for me to write this.

**_

* * *

_**

_**Ashes**_** - Aika**

"I've seen some strange things since I became a trooper, but what I saw in that outpost was the strangest. Bravo were all dead, killed by what I can only guess was the Reavers from the last radio transmission. But…If it was the Reavers, shouldn't at least one of those monsters have been killed? And why were there no spent enemy bullet cartridges? N…Now I think of it…There should have been boot prints f…from the Reavers? R…Right?"

_**- Corporal Hinata Hyuuga, 22nd**__** SAS Regiment. **__**Taken from Camp Falcon debriefing after SAS recon mission to Outpost 33-26. **_

* * *

A chill wind blew along the landscape. Along the frosted, snow covered ground and through the leafless and broken trees whose gnarled, broken branches stretched skywards like skeletal hands.

All it did for the small group of girls on a abandoned outpost was send another chill up their spines.

"That was a tank right…" said Tomo, looking around the girls.

"Yeah…" said Sakaki, frowning.

"I did…" said Kagura, sub-consciously aiming her AK at the rusted heap of metal.

The 'tank', if it could still be called that, was nothing more than a rusty lump on the hillside, the rust and scorch marks were so bad the girls couldn't tell if the Russian tank had belonged to the Soviets or the Loyalists. It had taken a missile round to the side which had blown out the hatches, peeled open the opposite side like a tin can, destroyed some wheels and broken its tracks. Small piles of ash surrounded the wheels where the rubber had been burned. The barrel was bent and battered, various bullet dents or holes peppered the front of the tank, no doubt caused by the two 'Dushkas' mounted in the outposts pillboxes. One of the fuel drums mounted to the read of the tank had exploded, tearing a gash in the engine compartment. It sat on the hillside, the turret and its bent, useless gun pointing at the helipad.

"If it was a tank, I doubt it was that one." said Yomi, folding her arms in apparent frustration.

"I think it was just echo's. The helicopters engines would sound like that being bounced around like that." said Chiyo.

"That sounded like a tank to me…" said Osaka.

"It wasn't a tank!" snapped Yomi, "That one is dead and why can't we hear it now!"

"Ah'm jus sayin' s'all." said Osaka.

"Don't you think hearing a tank and guessing it's the one in front of us is a bit weird?" asked Yomi.

"We've seen weirder stuff…I mean, look what happened with that Lucy girl when-" said Tomo.

"We're under orders not to talk about her." said Sakaki, cutting her off.

"But…"

"Operation: _Elfenlied_ was Black Ops then, and it still is now." said Sakaki.

"Besides, thinking about her gives me the creeps…" said Kagura, shivering.

"Put in a call for reinforcements." said Sakaki, scratching the back of her neck.

"Oh come on Sakaki! _You_ can't be serious!" cried Yomi.

"We're one squad. This is a big area to cover. We _can't_ do it on out own." said Sakaki, firmly and straight to the point. Her words held a logical sense, they were supposed to be thinking as soldiers, not high-school girls anymore.

Yomi grit her teeth, she knew Sakaki was thinking that noise was the tank in front of them.

The rest of the girls braced themselves for another bout of Sakaki Vs Yomi. It was situations like this that they usually came head-to-head.

Yomi had never taken Sakaki's field promotion to Captain well. Yomi decided that she herself was the next logical conclusion for field command of the squad. She was the smartest next to Chiyo, and Sakaki's personality was something Yomi thought a combat leader shouldn't have, considering what the taller girl had behaved like in high school. Sakaki simply wasn't ruthless enough was what she had concluded.

Sometimes though, Yomi had to be reminded how Sakaki got command of the squad.

"Go to the radio room and establish contact with Camp Falcon for reinforcements…Private." said Sakaki.

"I don't thin-" started Yomi.

"Now…_Mizuhara_."

Yomi went silent. The girls, sans Yomi, all looked at Sakaki with widened eyes. Sakaki hardly, if ever, spoke like that.

"She reminds me of Aika when she does that.." muttered Tomo. Kagura, who had lit a new cigarette and folded her arms, looked over to Tomo and raised an eyebrow.

Yomi's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, '_Major' _Sakura." she snarled sarcastically, then stormed over to and down the stairs. Sakaki's right eye twitched.

"Whoa…that was harsh." said Tomo, watching Yomi walk away. Kagura walked over to Sakaki and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey…Don't worry about her. You know how she gets." said Kagura. Sakaki sighed.

"Yeah…I know."

"Still, calling you after your…the Major I mean."

"She's not 'Aika' to you anymore?" asked Sakaki, staring down the mountain.

"Well…I didn't know if you liked me calling her by her name."

"I know you where good friends with her." said Sakaki, "I don't mind if you call her by her name."

Kagura nodded and stared down the hillside, remembering the first day of the rest of their lives.

* * *

**6 Years Ago. **

"As it has been proved, Peace is a fragile thing. Because of a senseless act of terrorism by communist funded and equipped individuals, The entire world has once again been engulfed in the flames of war. This is not a war of 'normal' standards, our forces are scattered to confront this threat. We, the American people, have only just managed to wrestle our country back from Soviet invasion, paid for in blood by the sacrifices of many brave American Soldiers and Citizens. If we are to take back our freedom which is ours by right, as commander in chief of all Coalition governments, I am approving the implementation of the Coalition Mobilization Act. As those of able body, man or woman, are called upon to sign up in their current locations at the nearest military installation to battle and push back the Soviets and their Communist Allies. I am truly sorry this path had to be taken. I hope God and yourselves can forgive me.

_**- U.S President, 2 years after the 'Second Sun'.**_

* * *

"I can't believe I agreed to this…" muttered Yomi, looking up and down the front rank.

"We didn't have a choice!" said Tomo cheerfully, "This is going to be a great adventure!"

Chiyo looked around nervously and Yomi placed a re-assuring hand on her shoulder. Chiyo had his a growth spurt soon after school, and was now as tall as Osaka. If not in the current situation, it would have been comical, but it had helped when she lied about her age to stay with her friends.

Kagura and Sakaki glanced at Tomo, then at each other. Kaorin, standing next to Sakaki, looked as she where about to be sick.

"How can so much change?" said Kagura.

"I don't know." said Sakaki.

The girls where stood in rank. They where the front rank of two. Yukari stood in the second rank behind Nyamo. The male soldiers behind them looked as young as they did, except for one, he looked grizzled and old.

The girls all wore the same camouflaged uniform, a dark green base with various shades of green blotches on top of it. A small JGSDF flag was sown on the left collar, while a the insignia of a private was sown to the right. Their family names where labeled on a name tape and sown above the left breast pocket and another saying 'Japan' with a Japanese flag in front of it was sown to the right.

They had been given the very basics of military training, such as basic drill, how to load and maintain their weapons and the basics of some equipment, but other than that, they didn't know anything about being soldiers.

They had been told they would be meeting their new commanding officer this day, and that the 'real' training was about to begin.

"So…I hear this Major is a real hard-ass." said one of the recruits behind Tomo, seemingly to break the silence.

"Yeah, I heard she's some kind of Special Forces Commando. Did all sorts of stuff with the German army when everything kicked off."

Sakaki stiffened.

"She?" asked Tomo, turning her head.

"That's right cutie." said the soldier winking. His name-tape identified him as 'Hiroyuki'.

Tomo eyed him up and down and scoffed.

"You couldn't handle it." she said, turned her head back.

"She's supposed to be really tall, taller than Sakura by there," said another soldier, Kikuchi, calling Sakaki by her family name, "How can a Japanese woman be _that _tall?"

"Hey! Sakaki's that tall!" said Yukari.

"I heard she's half-American," said another recruit, "But she was born in Tokyo so on paper she's Japanese."

"She is part American…" whispered Sakaki, who had turned pale. Kagura glanced at her friend, noticing how pale she had gotten.

"You know her?" asked Kagura.

"I think so…" said Sakaki, "Its-"

"_ATTENTION!_" came a barked shout, that echoed over the square and the two lines of now soldiers snapped into the pose.

A woman was marching towards them, wearing a red beret and the same camouflage that the girls were wearing, but unlike the girls, she was wearing a tactical bulletproof vest.

She had 'Major' insignia pinned to the right side of her jackets collar, and the same small rising sun on the left.

She carried a assault rifle slung over her shoulder, it looked foreign and more modern than the rifles the girls had been issued. A pistol in its holster was hanging from her belt, that looked like it was a foreign made weapon as well, from the size of it.

That was then they noticed that she wasn't _exactly _marching. To be more exact it looked like she was pacing towards the squad with such force it looked as she had intent to kill someone and wasn't in the best of moods.

She stopped at the end of the line and began to walk along it, the line the girls happened to be making.

The Major stopped at the left of the front rank. She clasped her hand behind her back and began to walk up the line looking, but closer to glaring, at the girls.

Her red beret had an insignia pinned to it, a silver wreath surrounding a dagger, a small German flag underneath it.

At least one of the rumors were true.

She had long black hair, no-where near as long as Sakaki's, it was tied back and Kagura could only guess that when it was undone, it ended somewhere just below her shoulders. Her eyes were cobalt blue, the same as Sakaki's. They looked strikingly similar, Kagura felt like she was looking at an older version of Sakaki. She had a slimmer jaw line, and a slightly different nose, but it wasn't really noticeable. They all the same thought at the same time, the only thing that stopped them all from crying out was the Major's presence.

As the Major stopped to briefly look down at Chiyo, Kagura gave in to curiosity and took her chance to glance at the Major's name tape, and it read;

**'SAKURA'**

Kagura's eye's widened slightly. That was the same family name as Sakaki. The Major couldn't be…but she looked to similar for to be coincidence.

"Eyes forward Kawada!" snapped the Major, making Yomi jump. Kagura's eyes fixed on a building opposite her.

Kagura found it strange that this was the first time anyone had heard her family name. All the chances they had in school and they find out what it is when the world was going to hell. Her older brother would of laughed at that, and Kagura began to wonder where he was right now…

After passing a shaking Tomo and a stoic Yomi, the Major gave a blood chilling sideways glance at Kagura and stood in front of Sakaki.

That was it. It was like they were looking in a mirror. The Major was taller than Sakaki, which the girls found almost unbelievable. Sakaki swallowed under the gaze the Major was giving her.

"Sakura…" the Major drawled.

"M…Muh…Ma'am." said Sakaki. She looked terrified. The only time the girls had seen Sakaki this worried was when Tomo mentioned the word 'pound' when Yukari had found that kitten.

"Huh." grunted the Major, then ignored Kaorin and Osaka and took up a position about five feet in front of the two ranks.

"At ease!" she shouted, and the squad complied. The Major looked intimidating to the girls. She had an aura of strength and self confidence that seemed to emanate from her.

"My name is Aika Sakura. _Major_ Aika Sakura. You will address me as 'Ma'am' or 'Major'. Understood?"

"Yes Major!"

"As I'm sure some of you know," said Aika, looking at the girls, "I am Private Sakura's mother."

Kagura felt her heart sink a little, She wouldn't even call Sakaki by her given name. She heard the other girls gasp quietly in shock.

The girls could see where Sakaki had gotten most of the things she was known in school for from.

"Great…she'll be getting it easy then…" muttered Hiroyuki. Kagura winced.

"I said, 'stand at ease'! Not talk!"

"Sorry Major!"

"Yes, Private Sakura is my daughter. But that doesn't mean she'll be getting it any easier than all of you."

Aika began walking down the front rank again.

"You will all train _together_. You will eat _together_. You will fail together and you will succeed _together_." she said, stopping and looking at whichever girl was at her left when she said 'together'.

"If one of you falls, or trips, I want to see at least two of you helping him or her back to her feet. You will go at the pace of the slowest person. You will learn to work as a team or I will drill it into you until you get it right. Understood?"

"Yes Major!"

"All that will be different will be sleeping quarters. I do have some morals and modesty."

Aika walked back to her first position to look at her squad. She clasped her hands behind her back and slowly blinked.

"Most, If not all of you, are here because of the Coalition Mobilization Act. Your now going to become soldiers. I'm not going to lie to any of you. This is a War. I have been given five months to turn you into soldiers. After that five months, you will all be members of the newly formed JGAF. That stands for 'Japanese Ground Attack Force'. We will be going overseas and we _will _be involved in fighting at the front lines."

She looked around the squad as she let that sink in.

"I'm not going to tell you that we're all coming home. I'm not going to say that we'll all come back and see mount Fuji again. Simply put, some of you are _going to die_."

The faces in front of her paled.

"I don't see why I should bullshit you. Just because some desk-riding, pencil-pushing, paper-filing limp-wrested, four-eyed maggot who sits in a warm safe building while men die in the mud thinks that lying is a morale booster, doesn't mean I'm going to do it."

_Nice_ thought Kagura, Aika obviously had no love lost for the Commanders.

"Some of you are going to die, maybe all of us will get shot or blown up in some foreign country we can't pronounce. Maybe you'll be lucky. You might get a sniper round straight through the brain and you won't feel a thing. Maybe you'll get blown into a million pieces so quickly you won't know what happened until you see the Yasukuni Shrine. You might just get to come back home because you'll get wounded."

Tomo took a sharp breath, the Major had a rather unique definition of 'lucky'.

"On the other hand, you might not get it so easy. You might get gut-shot, and lie there in your squad-mates arms bleeding to death with everyone around you. You might get a limb blown off.

You could end up lying in a ditch, staring at the sky and dying alone. You might find yourself holding _something_ that should obviously be _inside_ you. You might die screaming for your mothers or crying like little girls because you know you can't do anything about it. I've been wounded in combat, and I would rather have a quick death than have to go through that again."

Aika looked at her squad, she thought some of them were going to be sick. She sighed.

"But…You are all now my responsibility, and I don't intend on losing any of you. I want to drag you kicking and screaming into Hell, kill everything, then drag you all back out. If you listen to what I try to teach you, If you work together then you _will_ be coming through this, but I cannot guarantee it."

"Yes Major!" came the half-hearted reply.

"I know that's upset you all, but this is a War. Its not a walk in the park. This is what you need to realize. Your going to see and do things that some people your age should never see and those things will stick with you for the rest of your lives. Things that only you as a squad will understand."

Aika run her tongue over her teeth.

"I have to put things bluntly. If I lie to you, then all I'm doing is making the shock even bigger and worse when it happens. You are _my_ squad, no-one else's, you take orders from me and me alone. The one thing I guarantee you is that I will never lie to you. The next five months are going to be hard, they will test you to your limits and beyond them…and you will all be coming through it together. We will be joining the fight against those who launched an attack our homeland and seeking revenge for those lost during and those suffering from the 'Second Sun' over Tokyo."

She glanced at Tomo as she spoke, who nodded back with a determined frown.

"The best way out is always through. We are the masters of our fate." said Aika, finishing her speech.

The girls all frowned in determination. Aika looked over her squad and nodded.

"Attention!"

With the sharp crack of boots, the two ranks snapped straight.

"Good, you can do that…" said Aika, "Front rank! Two paces forwards, March!"

The girls and their teachers took a step forwards.

Aika reached into a pouch on her vest and pulled out a stack of triangular patches. She walked along the two ranks, handing out the patches, then she stood in front of them again.

"I want those sown onto your right sleeves by tomorrow morning. As of now, you are _mine_. Welcome to Echo-174."

* * *

Kagura lay on her back on the floor of one of the pillboxes, smoking a cigarette. She held it away from her mouth and blew the smoke up into the air, watching it drift lazily through the gap and into the night sky.

Ever since Sakaki's 'Aika relapse' earlier, Kagura had been replaying the day she had met Sakaki's mother in her head.

For someone with her attitude and some of the things Kagura seen Aika do before Sakaki had become Squad-Leader, it seemed like a cruel twist of fate that Aika was allergic to cats.

Aika had been labeled 'Missing-In-Action' for eighteen months now. She had broken cover to destroy a Soviet tank during a battle on the isle of Crete, but as she ran back to cover after planting the charges, she had taken a bullet to her stomach and was thought to have been caught in the explosion. No body had been found, only her G36 which Kagura gave to Sakaki.

Kagura sighed. She missed the Major. It was because of Aika that Kagura was smoking. Kagura had discovered that beneath her tough surface, Aika was actually some-what normal. Aika had a tough up-bringing in America, which eventually led to her running away to Japan when she was fifteen with her uncle. It had turned Aika into a rock hard woman who's education came from the street and problems where solved with fists. So when Sakaki was born, Aika couldn't let that part of herself go. After Sakaki's little sister Shizune was born, Aika realized her mistake and began rasing Shizune a little better than Sakaki. As a result, Shizune wasn't as anywhere near shy or self-conscious as Sakaki. Kagura had only met Shizune once, and she wondered where she was now, she was at the right age to have fallen under the Mobilization Act four years ago. Aika loved hers daughters and just wanted them to succeed.

Sakaki knew that, and Kagura thought that she pushed herself to hard to prove to people she could do it, that was why she was so good at things in high-school. Kagura chuckled as she thought back to calling Sakaki her rival. Aika made her realize all it did was make Sakaki want to prove to her mother she could beat Kagura. Not that she didn't have to try.

Kagura had to agree with Yomi sometimes, Sakaki just didn't have that same ruthless edge Aika was known for.

Kagura frowned and sat up, looking over the wall and at the tank. She frowned harder and stood up, then climbed over the wall. She didn't believe the noise she had seen earlier was the tank, but part of her had to make sure that the tank was actually dead. That incident with 'Lucy' had proved to her that some things were not as they seemed anymore.

Kagura unslung her AK, and began to walk towards the tank. Every step she took sent colder and colder shivers down her spine. The frosted earth cracked under her boots, and her breathing became more and more heavy as the rusted hulk grew larger in her vision. She moved her shoulders, was the air getting colder? Even the gnarled tress looked like they where turning to watch her. The fact she was walking towards a tank head on didn't help, neither did the turret mounted machine gun.

Kagura caught herself checking the bolt on her AK. It must have been the fifth time she did it since she left the pillbox. Even though it was legendary for its reliability, Kagura had the thought in the back of her mind that AK would jam or mis-fire while she was near the tank. She finally reached the tank, and her eyes constantly darted around, as if she were expecting some thing to be waiting for her. She shook her head.

"C'mon Kawada…Snap out of it." she said, imagining it was Aika talking to her. Her breath was misting in the air, and Kagura wondered if she should light a cigarette to calm her nerves.

Kagura rolled her shoulders and walked to the engine. Her eyes drifted over the wrecked components. If the explosion hadn't riddled it with shrapnel, then the years of exposure to the elements had seen to it that it would never run again. Kagura rounded to the front of the tank, catching the faint smell of burnt rubber. She stopped and frowned, then crouched.

How could the rubber still be burning? It was impossible. She run her fingers down one of the wheels, and jerked them back when she felt a very faint warmth from it. Kagura stood and found herself looking into the interior, then she screamed and fell backwards. Two blackened skeletons where sitting in their positions, jaws agape and eyeless sockets staring towards the outpost. Kagura held a hand to her chest to try and catch her breath. Kagura looked to the floor and stood up, turning away from the tank. She closed her eyes and sighed. It had been a shock, nothing else. She looked at her hand, the warmth from the wheels must have been he mind playing tricks on her. She was wearing gloves after all. Kagura turned, chuckled at herself. Then her blood turned to ice.

One of the skulls had turned, and wasn't looking at the outpost anymore.

It was looking somewhere else.

It was looking at _her_.

Kagura screamed and raised her AK in a blur, and found to her relief that it didn't jam or misfire, but it put six rounds into the tank, one of them punched into the skull and blew the top of it to pieces. Kagura turned and sprinted back up the hill, not daring to look back. As she ran, she heard the unmistakable growl of the engine. Kagura felt herself turning to look, and as she did she twisted on her ankle. A searing pain exploded in her leg and she fell to the frozen earth. Kagura groaned and lifted her head, feeling something wet and warm on her face. She wiped it with her hand and it came away red. Kagura yelped and found herself staring at a hand slick with blood. She didn't feel any pain, and when she raised her head she saw why.

A dead soldier lay in a pool of blood in front of her. The same soldier she saw every time she slept, the first man she'd killed. Kagura's eyes widened. What was he doing here? Maybe that was it, she was dreaming.

Her twisted ankle reminded her she wasn't.

Kagura scrambled to her feet as the tank growled again, and this time it was joined by the sound of the treads crunching across the earth.

Kagura limped as fast as she could to the pillbox, and dragged herself into it, cursing as she hit the floor. She scrambled back to the wall and pointed her AK at the opening.

All that greeted her was silence. No tank noise, no skeletons, nothing.

She moved her head back until it hit the concrete wall behind her. She sighed and tried to regain her composure. Her ankle twitched, and a bolt of pain shot up her leg.

"Dammit…Medic!" she called.

_This is going to be an interesting explanation. _she thought.

* * *

_**Well, there we go! More strange happenings, sort of cameo's and the introduction of Aika Sakura! I know the spooky elements of this chapter are a bit lacking, I wanted to focus on Aika and the inevitable impact she's going to have on the girls as the story progresses. **_

_**As for 'Corporal Hinata Hyuuga' and "Operation: Elfenlied", Ashes was never going to be contained to Azumanga Daioh, a few series are getting the same treatment, some will show up here, some will get their own fics. Ashes is a large world where nothing is as it should be. **_


End file.
